Monday, July 3, 2017

Monica Got Married

The tropical breeze and gently
crashing surf in front of us, the young couple stood together and the vows
about to taken.What an idyllic
scene!I sat there holding Debbie’s hand
with Gab and Bec sitting to my right.For that moment, things were great!

Life is busy.It is good that I enjoy the work that I do, enjoy
the volunteering, and enjoy most all of the things that fill my days.I do not work with an eye to my next vacation
and focus on where we are going to travel next.We all remember the Eveready bunny that kept on going and going.However, even the Eveready bunny must use up
its battery’s life.While in the midst
of my daily routine, I do not always realize that I am wearing down, and need
to recharge.

Monica got married.The first few days we were saying, I cannot
believe Monica’s getting married!We
were there as a family.I make no bones
about loving my family, being together and enjoying each other.It has been two full years since we took a
family vacation away.Yes, I have been
to Florida a lot this past 15 months, but these were not vacations – these were
visits tending to a sick aunt, a quick visit to my father, and tending to him
when he was sick.Debbie and I had a few
long weekends, but not a family vacation where we were off the grid.This vacation, we were in Jamaica – off the
mainland and not easy to contact to us - A true vacation.

We have known Monica and her
family for a long time.When she said
they wanted to marry in Jamaica, we said we were in.Not only to support her on her new adventure,
but also to take a family vacation to somewhere we have not been to. When the opportunity made itself available, we
jumped at the chance to turn this into a family vacation.

Being off the grid meant no
work to pull me from the downtime, a chance to reacquaint ourselves together, and
the time to recharge our batteries.We
had the chances to eat together, swim together, enjoy the swim up bar, and
enjoy cocktails together. We always
enjoyed the vacation time when the girls were young; there is a clear difference
spending time with them as adults.Yes,
it was great!

After the completion of the
ceremony, we turned our heads a noticed a rainbow in the sky - truly a
wonderful symbol.As our last morning
approached, we looked back at the pool with the ocean beyond.This was a beautiful place, where we got to
watch two young people start their journey as a married couple, enjoyed some
native foods, and most importantly, spent time as a family to relax and enjoy
time together.As the ensuing months
come, I will keep in mind the importance of vacation and the opportunity to
spend it with my family.